As I was going to find my friend in the local YMCA, he asked him why I didn't just join the gym and told him I had yoga and some calisthenics at home for my exercises and didn't feel the need to become a gymnastics. His answer was predictable: "Doesn't yoga stretch out?"


I smiled at the familiarity of the question and went on to explain the subject of this article to him. As I said to him and to those who don't otherwise know, No, yoga is much more than just stretching out or getting into supposedly uncomfortable positions.


It is a mixture of stretching, breathing, meditation and possibly the foremost overlooked limbo, adhering to the proper diet.


The word yoga, meaning yuj from Sanskrit, means yoga or jogging and is often understood as a "union" or discipline. The ultimate objective is to unite man in one breath with God or the universe. It also aims to free the spirit, as the mind and the spirit participate equally in its practice.


Yoga is indeed the world's oldest existing system of physical culture. In addition to being a systematical and scientifically proven way to achieve physical fitness, it delays aging, rejuvenates and improves appearance, maintains flexibility, and increases vitality and the creative part of life.
The average practitioner will demonstrate that with its core warm-up exercises, called sun salutations (which are similar to the calisthenic exercise called burpees), the reversal postures, forward and backward bending poses, balance of the arms' exercises, and building focus, Yoga can stand its own.
Can't Yoga help building strength? Think again. Think again. Heck, I challenge the most skilled bodybuilder to keep the pacifix straight for 90 seconds. Bet you they would crash in its execution halfway- if they'd crash that far.





Yoga also offers unique respiratory exercises that are great for patients with respiratory disorders and even vocalists and public speakers. In addition, Yoga offers a systemic way to relax the entire body as no other exercise can, with its unique relaxing pose, often practised during or after performance. (Note of course that a deep body massage does not give several of the poses as opposed to those received in salons... I thought I was supposed to throw that in.)

I suggest you try it and see for yourself what it could do with countless books, DVDs, videos and classes available for all ages, levels of fitness and experience (some of them are actually free for the first few classes in Yoga).


One thing I promise is this; you're going to go out of your school and agree: "Yoga is much more than simply stretching." It's THE workout.